) the tape parts first with strips of peel ply partly as an experiment as I've never used it before (first boat) and partly to save on sanding, and a little to do with making a stronger joint - I read somewhere on this forum that less epoxy = more strength.I have seen peel ply going for 5-6x the price i paid - not sure if thats worth it or not as you obviously need quite a few metres worth! I found some 'replica' stuff on ebay for £2.86 per metre and that sounded like a deal to me given how much time it allegedly saves you in fairing, as well as saving money in less epoxy, fairing mix etc. It came rolled around itself with no cardboard tube and it looked as though a drunk person had rolled it up and stuffed it into a sack in a hurry, but when its on the boat that doesnt matter too much!
Putting the peel ply on probably added an extra hour or so but I feel as though its going to save days of fairing - even a novice like me was able to figure it out and use it to move epoxy around better but more importantly scrape away the "mounds" of epoxy that are hard to see. Haven't started fairing yet but I feel like the peel ply was a very good call. Also saves a huge amount of sanding, dust etc etc
Regarding sharpened corners, I saw on somebody's build thread about how you want the back 7-8 ft (from memory!) sharpened to help with aqua dynamics which makes you faster and more fuel efficient. I'm sure its not essential but makes sense and is the kind of thing I can imagine being glad I did in a few years time.
Hope you've got a surform for those radiuses! I got really into that bit, could do it all day! No sharp edge around the house will ever be safe again
Cheers Piperdown, went for a similar technique but just pre-drilling for a 3mm ring-shank nail that just got poked in. I slapped the first layer on pretty much anyhow and without nails, then by the time I got back to the first side to do the second layer it was ready to stick on without clamps, so it slapped on the second layer then lined up each little 2ft section nicely before pre-drilling and poking a little nail in. Took the nails out about 3 hrs later before the epoxy got too hard, seems to have gone alright so far at least!
Bang on Aripeka Angler - definitely could have just gone with the straight cuts! Havent got space for a table saw unfortunately so just using a circular saw but still could have set up a little jig and whizzed them off straight. Got some 6x38mm Iroko to go as the third layer which is straight cut. Looking forward to a bigger house one day with lots of space to build boats like you boys have it over in Florida, with room for table saws galore!
SO the rubrail has 2 out of 3 layers and also got the sapele (thats for the advice against red oak, seaslug!) skeg in, which if you ask me looks a lot like one of those bullet trains that goes a million miles an hour! Hoping to make a start on the fairing tomorrow if I can figure out how to degrease this fibreglass
I wasn't able to roll her out into the sun for a post-cure like some people seem to do but I was thinking of trying something similar later on when the graphite is on by draping a tarp over her and sticking a radiator/heater under there over night (not sure if they make radiators over in Florida, Georgia etc but its something you plug into the wall that actually RAISES the air temperature! Very popular here in the UK especially in winter time